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'07 Blind Spot & Lane Change Technology Reviews & Test Drives

Compare blind spot mirrors for safe lane changes and driver awareness

NHTSA: 1 out of 25 collisions on America's Highways is due to improper lane change or lane merge!

Reviews of latest automotive blind spot systems including exposure systems and detection systems.

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eliminate lane change accidents
The driver changed lanes and hit a car that appeared to come out of nowhere. There was no drinking & driving involved. Police were called to the scene and she is now suffering minor neck injuries. However, there was lots of damages to both vehicles.

Could This Accident Have Been Avoided?

Most people's reaction to reading the above claim is that the car in the left lane must have been in the driver's blind spot mirrors, therefore it was an unavoidable accident during a routine lane change. We believe that car crashes are not merely "accidents" - something unavoidable. I think that this, and most every collision, should not have occurred. Why? In this case, because I don't believe in "blind spot mirrors."

Blind spots, in the context of driving an automobile, are the areas of the road that cannot be seen while looking forward or through either the rear-view or side mirrors. Blind spots can be eliminated by overlapping side and rear-view mirrors, or checked by turning one's head briefly, or by adding another mirror with a larger field of view. Detection of vehicles or other objects in blind spots may also be aided by systems such as video cameras or distance sensors, though these are not common in automobiles sold to the general public.

Contents

Blind spot areas

The areas most commonly referred to as blind spots are the rear quarter blind spots, areas towards the rear of the vehicle on both sides. Vehicles in the adjacent lanes of the road may fall into these blind spots, and a driver may be unable to see them using only the car's mirrors.Other areas that are sometimes called blind spots are those that are too low to see behind and in front of a vehicle. Also, in cases where side vision is hindered, areas to the left or right can become blind spots as well.

Mirror Settings

To set mirrors to eliminate all blind spot areas, use the following steps:

  • Start by setting your rear-view mirror as you normally would. Then, lean your head all the way to the left so it touches the driver's window. From that position, set your left side-view mirror so you can see the back corner of your car. Now lean the same distance the other way, and set your right side-view mirror the same way.Now, here's what happens. When a car comes up behind you, you should first see it in your rear-view mirror. But as it passes you (let's say on your left), you'll see it move to the left side of your rear-view mirror. And as its left headlight disappears from your rear-view mirror, it should instantly show up in your left side-view mirror. There should be no delay. It should slip from one to the other, so you can always see it. Set your left-side mirror so that as soon as the passing car's left, front headlight disappears from your rear-view mirror, it appears in your left-side mirror. You might need to make some slight adjustments to your side-view mirrors to make everything line up perfectly. And pulling up next to a line of parked cars (to simulate another lane of traffic next to you) is a good way to do that. Repeat above step for right-side mirror.
  • A significant portion of blind spots are eliminated. Driving with the mirrors this way takes some getting used to. You have to learn to rely on your rear-view mirror first. And you'll have to get used to what your side-view mirrors are now looking at.

Effect of vehicle type

Generally speaking, larger vehicles have larger rear blind spots. For example, the blind spot behind a typical sedan could only hide a small vehicle, while the blind spot of an SUV can hide small children or vehicles, resulting in as many as 50 children being killed by reversing SUVs each year. The blind spot behind tractor trailers can contain entire vehicles, which is one reason many trucks carry warnings not to follow too close, such as "if you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you." This is partly because the driver's position is higher in a tractor-trailer.Larger vehicles also have much larger front and side blind spots. Tractor-trailers have not only large rear quarter blind spots, but also a large blind spot directly to their left and to their front-right.There are a number of products available to consumers to deal with the blind spot problem. Convex mirrors, often called "spot mirrors" can bring blind spots into view, but their optical properties impart a great deal of distortion so as to make it difficult to judge distances. Newer technologies using "aspheric" mirrors allows the blind spots to be virtually eliminated while minimizing distortion by enlarging the field of view by 1.4 to 1.7 times.

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CONSUMERS & BLIND SPOT MIRRORS

  • One of the most safety-oriented automotive nameplate, has reported that the blind spot problem was the number 1 driving safety issue identified and reported by their vehicle owners. In J.D. Power & Associates’ 2002 consumer survey of emerging automotive technologies, consumers indicated that blind spot systems were the number 2 ranked feature they are likely to purchase (second only to run-flat tire systems; JDP&A, 2002)
  • Stats are one thing. But from a purely emotional perspective, who among us has not accidentally cut off a vehicle in the adjacent lane in the past 90 days? Who among us has not had a near miss during a lane change attempt in the last 6 months?

NEW CAR DEALERS & BLIND SPOT MIRRORS

  • 95% of US auto dealers indicated that they were interested (49%) or very interested (46%) in carrying a blind spot solution. (VRS Systems North American Dealership Study, 2003)
  • 72% indicated that a blind spot mirror product provides them with a competitive advantage, citing “Safety Sells!” (Female respondents -95%- overwhelmingly concurred; See target market segments for relevance).

AUTO MANUFACTURERS & BLIND SPOT SYSTEMS

  • In the University of Michigan OSAT’s annual survey of emerging automotive technologies, top automotive executives predicted a 10% penetration of factory blind systems by 2006.
  • So far two manufacturers have formally announced production blind spot detection solutions as optional equipment on their vehicles.

THE BLIND SPOT & LANE CHANGE PROBLEM

In fact, "blind spots" are a thing of the past! On any car or mini-van built in the last ten or twenty years (assuming it has a right side mirror, which everyone should have), the mirrors can be adjusted so there are no blind spots. How?

  1. The first step is to adjust the blind spot mirrors to do exactly that - give you a view directly to the rear. Position it so that it best covers your view straight out the rear window. Don't bother tilting it to one side or the other to assist with your view of traffic to either side of your car. That's what the side mirrors are for.
      Next, lean your head until it almost touches the driver's side window. Then, adjust your left side power blind spot mirrors so that you can just barely see the side of your car, and no more than that.
     
  2. Lean your head to the right towards the middle of the car and adjust the right side mirror so that you can just barely see the right side of your car. You should NOT be able to see the side of your car when your head is perfectly upright. After all, why would you want to? When was the last time your own car ran into itself?
      Check for blind spot mirrors by doing the following: While driving along a four-lane road in the right lane, note a vehicle in the left lane coming up to pass you from behind. Without moving your head, glance in the rear-view mirror and follow it as it approaches your car in the left lane. Just before it disappears from your view in the rear-view blind spot mirror, glance to the left blind spot side mirror. There it is. Now follow that vehicle in the side mirror as it begins to pass you. Then, just before it disappears from the side mirror, you should see it with your peripheral vision. Notice that without even turning your head, you never had a blind-spot. Then try it with the right side mirror. Watch as you pass a vehicle traveling in the right lane go from your peripheral vision, to your right side blind spot mirror, to your rear-view mirror. Again, no blind-spot. If there is a blind spot for even a fraction of a second, your side mirror adjustment needs some fine-tuning.
     

Your peripheral vision and your lane change blind spot mirrors will still provide a view in front of you - no "blind spot" in front of you either, meaning less chance of rear-ending a vehicle that has suddenly stopped. As a side benefit, with the blind spot mirrors tilted out farther, you will no longer have to worry about the bright lights of a vehicle behind you glaring in your eyes. It may take a little time to stop relying on the new blind spot mirrors for looking to the rear. But once you get used to it, you'll love it. You'll feel much more confident and comfortable in traffic.

THE SCIENCE OF LANE CHANGE SAFETY AND BLIND SPOT MIRRORS

The Blind Spot detection mechanism used by motorists is an entirely manual task. As part of basic driving instruction, drivers are taught to check their Blind Spot Zone before executing a lane change by turning the driver’s head by as much as 90 degrees in the direction of the desired lane check/change .

This manual technique to the persistent Blind Spot problem is inherently flawed in the following ways:

  1. The driver is required to direct his / here direction away from the road ahead. The head turning task is strictly voluntary to the driver. Driver fatigue or low alertness levels can contribute to ignoring or neglecting to perform this manual check when changing lanes.
    Human perception of sight ahead is based on a concept of continuity. A driver’s “Frame Of Reference” (FOR) is a series of continuous images transmitted to the driver’s brain from a moving scene ahead. Sudden shifts in a specific scene caused by a swift movement of the head will require additional brain processing time known as Frame Of Reference Adaptation Time. FOR Adaptation Time in a conventional Blind Spot check is measured as the time between the driver’s head returning back to its original road-facing position after executing a manual Blind Spot check and the time required by the brain to refocus the scene of the road and traffic ahead including any changes in the traffic scene ahead such as vehicle movements, new vehicles, road or traffic signals, and road shape. Cognitive HMI (Human Machine Interface) research indicates that FOR Adaptation Time for an average well-rested male driver performing a manual Blind Spot check vary between 280 and 1,200 milliseconds.
    Any product that eliminates or reduces FOR Adaptation Time can provide significant benefits in collision avoidance. In normal highway traffic flows, 280-1,200 milliseconds of FOR Adaptation Time translate into 124 feet of advance emergency stopping distance.
  2. Vehicle designs vary widely. Some vehicles have severely restricted side view through and behind the driver side B-pillar. This occurs most commonly in some sports cars and convertibles. Similarly, tall SUVs, while having ample viewing room up to the B-pillar on the driver side, have impeded Blind Spot view to their relatively large dimensions, including height. In essence, any B-pillar or height design issues inherently limit the side and rearward view through the driver’s side window. This consequently further limits the reliability and efficiency of conventional Blind Spot checking mechanism in preventing avoidable lane change collisions.

BUT THERE'S MORE TO THE LANE CHANGE AND LANE MERGE PROBLEM

The Blind Spot problem is quite pervasive with growing demand from consumers, OEMs and Tier 1 Supplier community.

  • The advanced Blind Spot Detection solutions market is now emerging with industry indications of considerable upside, starting with MY05 and MY06 vehicle line-ups. As such, Blind Spot Detection is the cornerstone of Drivaware’s go-to-market strategy and the primary focus of its lane change innovation. Dedicated considerable product development resources to create, develop and production-ready three innovative Blind Spot Detection systems. These lane change solutions are entirely original innovations, never seen before in the automotive marketplace. More broadly however, each Drivaware Blind Spot Detection solution has a compelling first-to-market advantage in its respective technology.
  • While each of the three Drivaware systems is different in terms of underlying technology and functional capabilities, our team has ensured that the following key characteristics are universally applied as our guiding design and HMI (Human Machine Interface) principles:

LaneFX Features

  • Zero Driver Distraction
    Systems work when the driver needs them Zero False Positives Reduction in OEM exposure to potential product liability
  • As Easy as Activating the Turn Signal
    No new interfaces that present a learning curve to drivers

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